WASHINGTON – In a tight game on a chilly afternoon, American University lacrosse edged out George Mason for a 11-10 win. Each side maintained an evenly matched offensive effort with American holding a 24-23 shot advantage, but Eagles' goalie Caleigh Forti helped stave off the Patriots with eight saves.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Junior Becca Frank helped lead the Eagles' offensive efforts with three goals on shots. Frank tied her season-high for goals while moving up to 11 for the year.
• Junior Alyssa Apuzzo helped tip the advantage to American with five points as she scored twice and contributed three assists. Apuzzo has 17 points on the season, tied for first on the team.
• Sophomore Reagan Murdoch added three points, as well, with two goals and an assist. Murdoch is tied with Apuzzo with a team-high 17 points for the season. Murdoch also controlled a ground ball and caused a turnover for the day.
• Junior Maddy Spratt also contributed three points with a pair of goals and an assist while grabbing a ground ball and causing a turnover. She also added four draw controls to the effort.
• Senior Hannah Spease added a pair of goals on the day to go along with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Forti recorded her eight saves for American against 23 shots, 18 of which came on goal. The junior also caused one turnover and controlled four ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• American took the early lead as Spratt scored her first goal of the game 45 seconds into play on an assist from sophomore Annabelle Jackson.
• After a short back-and-forth, Spease scored American's second goal, a man-up with an assist from Apuzzo with 10:46 remaining in the first quarter.
• George Mason was able to sway advantage its way over the next several minutes with three straight goals before American's Murdoch was able to level the score, 3-3, with 2:37 left in the quarter.
• Both sides kept an evenly paced offensive effort through the first quarter with the Patriots holding the slight 5-3 edge in shots on goal. Forti, however, stepped up with a pair of saves to keep the Eagles even.
• The second quarter maintained a similar pace as Spease scored American's first goal four minutes in with an assist from Murdoch before Apuzzo scored a minute later to take a 5-3 lead.
• George Mason was quick to respond, though, with a pair of goals, less than a minute apart from each other to level the score at 5-5 with eight minutes left in the half.
• Frank scored the final goal of the first half with 5:20 remaining with an assist from Apuzzo.
• The Patriots were able to jump back into contention with a goal 3:45 into the third quarter before Apuzzo was able to retake the lead less than a 1:30 later.
• Again, however, George Mason was able to tie it up with 8:22 left in the third quarter before American was able to pull ahead one more time with 4:20 left with Murdoch scoring her second goal.
• American closed out the third quarter on the offensive with two more goals courtesy of Frank with assists from Spratt and Apuzzo to hold a 10-7 heading into the final quarter.
• George Mason went on the offensive throughout the final frame with four shots on goal, scoring its first goal 30 seconds into the quarter.
• Spratt, though, was able to put across the penultimate goal with 9:21 remaining on a free position shot.
• The Patriots were able to pull within contention in the final minutes with a pair of goals coming under the four-minute mark before getting off one final shot attempt that ultimately was pushed wide in the final seconds.

NEXT UP

American goes on the road for a pair of games, beginning with a noon Patriot League matchup at Lehigh on Saturday, March 9, and a 1 p.m. game at Iona on Wednesday, March 13. The Eagles will return home on Saturday, March 16, for a noon matchup against Siena.

For the latest on AU Lacrosse, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_Lacrosse) and Instagram (@au_wlax).